Adjustable spiral separator.



J. H. BECKER.

Patented June 25, 1918.

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J. H. BECKER.

ADJUSTABLE SPIRAL SEPARATOR.

APPLICATION FILED OCT. I1. I91].

Patented June 25, 1918.

3 SHEETSSHEET. 2.

1, H. BECKER. ADJUSTABLE SPIRAL SEPARATOR. APPLICATION FILED OCT. 11, 1917.

Patented June 25, 1918.

3 SHEETS-SHEET 3.

M ATTORNEY JOHN H. IBECKERLOF HAZ LETON, PENNSYLVANIA, ASSIGNOR TO ANTHRACITE SEPA- RATOR COMPANY, A CORPORATION OF PENNSYLVANIA.

ADJUSTABLE SPIRAL SEPARATOR.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented June as, 1918.

Application filed October 11,1917. Serial No. 195,915.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, JOHN H. BECKER, a citizen of the United States, residing at Hazleton, Pennsylvania, (whose post-office address is 543 Grant street, Hazleton, Pennsylvania,) have invented new and useful Improvements in Adjustable Spiral Separators, of which the following is a specification.

Spiral separators are commonly used for separating anthracite coal from the slate which is usually mined in greater or less percentage with coal. These separators are of different types. They depend upon friction and centrifugal force to separate the coal from the slate. One or morespiral surfaces are provided which are not only in'- clined downward along their spirallength but are also inclined downward and inward in cross-section. As the material passes down the spiral the greater friction of the slate particles on the surface of the spiral causes them to travel more slowly than the particles of coal and to have a lesser centrifugal effect so they tend to collect and rundown along the inner surface of the spiral; while the smoother particles of coal run faster and with a greater centrifugal effect and tend to run along the outer spiral path. A grade of'coal composed of layers of slate and coal and known in this art as bone or bony coal tends to travel in a spiral path intermediate the inner and outer surface of the separator. At the bottom of the spiral the paths of the slate, the bony coal and the coal respectively are separated so that the three classes of material may be led'into separate bins or other receptacles. There is a certain interference of the several different particles as they run down the spiral and it is necessary to make the spiral course of a sufiicient length to gradually effect the complete separation desired, and for the same reason a certain speed of travel is necessary to secure the best separation. The material as it comes to the separator differs in content and in quality from time to time depending on difierent veins and conditions in the mines and whether the material is drier or wetter.

My invention provides a separator whose frictional effect on the material can be adjusted so as to secure for eachmaterial the best separating condition. The spiral is made up of sections some comparatively rough and some comparatively smooth and rals and to spiral separators of various other styles than illustrated.

Figure 1 is a side elevation of the complete separator;

Fig. 2 is an underside plan view approximately on the line 2-2 of Fig. 1;

Flg. 3 is a top planview of one convolutlon of the spiral to which the adjustable parts are applied;

Fig. 4: is a view similar to Fig. 3, the parts being ad usted to cover the friction pads;

Fig. 5 1s a sectional view approximately on the line55 of Fig. 3;

Fig. 6 is an enlarged vertical section on the line 66 of Fig. 5;

Fig. 7 is an enlarged radial section on the line 7-7 of Fig. 4:;

Fig. 8 is a similar section on the line 8--8 of Fig. 3;

Figs. 9, 10, 11 and 12 are detail views;

Fig. 13 is a section on the line 1313 of Fig. 10.

The separator illustrated has two main spirals indicated as a whole by the letters A and B which receive the material from chutes C and D at the upper ends of the splrals. The material running on these spirals is separated as above described. A certain quantity of the coal runs over'the outer edges of these spirals and is caught by a third spiral E. In an apparatus of this type the third spiral is not designed to have any separating effect since it will receive practically nothing except particles of coal and it serves solely as a. conveyor for coal to the bin below. The adjusting feature is applied only to the spirals A and B. Each of these spirals is made up of a plurality of fixed plates T Fig. 12 which form a base on which are mounted the friction pads F which are roughened on their top faces or on portions of their top faces in any one of various waysknown in the art, for example by punched protrusions f as shown in Fig. 8. These protrusions may be made toproject greater or less distances above the normal surface of the pads to vary the frictional resistance offered, to suit the condition of the material being separated.

In the drawing some of the roughened surface are. represented by cross-hatching for convenience of illustration. The surfaces so shaded may be assumed to be either roughened by punching, reticulated,

knurled, serrated or coated with cement, carborundum or other abrasive or frictional surface. The plates T are supported in fixed position by being attached at. their inner ends to the central post G (Fig. 5) and along their radial edges to rods H mounted on said post'and extendin outward and upward therefrom. Overlapping the upper portion of each of the rough or frictional pads F isa smooth adjustable cover plate J which extends through a slit t in the fixed plate and is connected thereto by a pivot K, (Figs. 2, 3, and l) In the case shown there are four fixed friction pads to one convolution of the spiral and also four smooth adjustable cover plates each adapted to be swung down over a considerable portion of its cooperative friction pad F or to be swung up under the next adjacent fixed cover-plate T so as to expose a greater or less area of the lower rough plate F. The fixed covers T need not be absolutely smooth, but may be formed with projecting ribs and diverging surfaces as shown at t in Figs. 7, 10 and 11.

In some case the fixed covers T may be omitted entirely, as shown at the two top convolutions of Fig. 1, in suchinstances the adjustable covers J merely swing up through the slits t and under the plates T. Any number of such friction .pads and cover plates per convolution may be used, and in fact any number desired in the total length of the spiral. A similar result could be secured'by making the stationary pads smooth and the adjustable cover plates rough. The

separate spirals and the separate parts of each spiral may be made separately adjustable to any desired extent of sub-division. But, for practical purposes it is sufficient in the type of separator illustrated to provide for adjusting the roughness of the upper part of both spirals at one time, or the roughness of the lower part of both spirals at one time; and of course with this mechanism both parts may be adjusted to the same degree at one time. The several cover plates J (Figs. 2 and 7 of the upper convolution (speaking first of the spiral A only) are connected at the outer edges by means of short slotted loops M and rollers m to acommon spiral rod or carrier N which is'arranged to slide between guide rollers n, (Fig, v 8) housed in the straps I-I mounted on the undersides of the radial supporting-rods H for the several fixed plates. The same construction is repeated for the upper convolution of the second spiral B, the cover plates there- 'two of the radial rods H.

of being connected to a spiral carrying rod N Fig. 4. At suitable points in the lengths of these spiral carriers N and 'N they are provided with rollers Q (Fig. 6) between which pass the forks O and O of a lever P, the forks at their inner ends being pivoted to a short cross-bar Q (Fig. 2) mounted on When the lever P is thrown to the right or the left the spiral carriers N and N are similarly shifted, the cover plates whose outer edges are connected thereto are swung about their pivots K within a suitable range to cover more or less of the rough surface of the friction pads.

The pivoted cover plates J of the next convolution, of both the spirals A and B, are connected to similar spiral carrier rods which are operated by a lever R. With this arrangement the upper lever P may be set to adjust the separator so as to secure a faster travel of the material at the beginning of its movement, or both levers may be similarly adjusted to vary the frictional effect similarly throughout practically the entire length of the spiral. A single lever might in some cases serve to produce all the adjustment desired, varying the area of rough surface throughout the length of the separator or over any desired portion thereof.

A toothed plate S pivotally secured at s to the fixed upright E, serves to lock the frictional plates in any adjusted position, the plate rocking on the pivot s as the lever moves from one tooth to another.

In Figs, 10 and 11 the two extreme ositions of a slightly modified form of adjustable cover J is shown provided with a suitable inner roughened surface J When this form of cover is usedit is pivoted at the point K so that as the cover is swung up to expose the frictional pad F the roughened surface of the cover will be swung down through the slit 6, thereby increasing the exposed area of the frictional surface.

At the lower or discharge ends of the separator suitable ridged adjustable division plates U are providedwhich may be swung about the pivots u to divert the direction of travel of the material, so that for example if the operator sees that too much bony coal is being discharged in the slate chute he can manipulate the division plate to get the proper separation desired.

While I have described with great particularity the specific embodiment of my invention illustrated, it is to be understood that changes may be made without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention.

What I claim is 1. Aseparator having a spiral runway which is composed partly of smooth and partly of frictional plates and means for shifting one of such parts over the other to vary the comparative extent of exposure of the frictional and smooth surfaces.

2. A spiral separator composed of alternate smooth and frictional surfaced portions and means for moving sections of the one sort over those of the other sort so as to vary the character of the exposed surface.

3. A spiral separator composed of alternate smooth and frictional surfaced portions and means for moving sections of the one sort over those of the other sort so as to vary the character of the exposed surface, several alternate sections of the same kind being united and a single means for moving them all at one operation.

4. A separator comprising a spiral runway composed of alternate smooth and frictional surfaced portions, means for moving sections of the one sort over those of the other sort so as to vary the character of the exposed surface and means for looking said moving means in different positions.

5. A separator comprising a spiral runway provided with a plurality of detachable smooth and frictional surfaced portions, and means for varying the comparative area of the exposed surfaces of said smooth and fric-,

tional surfaced portions.

6. A separator comprising a spiral runway which is provided at intervals along its length with fixed plates, pivoted plates overlapping said fixed plates, the fixed and pivoted plates havin surfaces of widely differing frictional coecients, spiral carriers con- 'length with frictional surfaced plates, pivoted smooth plates overlapping the frictional surfaced plates and spiral carriers connecting several of said pivoted plates for moving them in unison to simultaneously vary the exposed area of the frictional plates.

8. A separator comprising a spiral runway which is provided at intervals along its length with frictional surfaced plates, pivoted smooth plates overlapping the frictional surfaced plates, spiral carriers connecting several of said pivoted plates for moving them in unison to simultaneously vary the exposed area of the frictional plates and means for locking said carrier in difi'erent adjusted positions.

9. A separator comprising a plurality of segmental plates the lower radial edges of one segment joining the upper edges of the next segment to form a spiral runway, frictional plates detachably secured to the outer portion of certain of the segmental plates,

pivoted plates having a comparatively smooth surface overlapping said frictional plates and means for simultaneously moving several of said pivoted plates.

In witness whereof, I have hereunto signed my name.

JOHN H. BECKER.

Copies of this patent may be obtained forfive cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of Patents,

Washington, D. G. 

